Tick Tock
by verderhargett
Summary: Rogue is lost.  She counts time, she stares- at him.  Rogue/Angel & Rogue/Logan.  Set after X-MEN 3: The Last Stand.
1. The Cure

**Title: Tick Tock**

_Disclaimer:_ I own nothing. All characters used in this story belong to Marvel and the characters portrayed are those from the X-Men movies.

First fanfiction written- so hopefully I don't disappoint! Reviews are most definitely welcome! This story is after X-men: The Last Stand and is Rogue/Angel, Rogue/Logan. Enjoy!

* * *

><p><span>Chapter One.<span>

Xavier was dead. The wooden hallways of the school echoed with young whispers. Students murmured rumors that ripped into Rogue's head as she wandered to her room. She could hear all of the kids and their worries, she could hear their tears and hopes through the walls. It happened two weeks ago. The depression still lurked around the courtyards, it pressed against the gates of Xavier's school and threatened to collapse against the world. Rogue hoped it would crush it. Crush her. The days felt like minutes to her, time seemed to slow down as if he had warped time around her and made everything almost motionless- but just through her eyes.

Logan had said things would settle down. The school was planned to start up two days ago, but still shadows lurked the campus. Children screamed at night, their powers reacting to fear, sadness, and loss. Rogue touched her doorknob. Her fingers tingled and she looked down at her hand. It was bare, her naked skin felt the coolness of the metal and she twisted to open the door. She plopped onto her bed and stared at the ceiling. Her reaction was staring, counting time as it passed. Two weeks, how much longer would she have to wait for her not to miss him? To not miss Cyclops? To not hate Jean?

Rogue closed her eyes. The cure hadn't made her feel the way she wanted. She could touch, she could rub her skin against Bobby's, against anyone, but her insides felt empty. Her heart ached for reaction, for her powers to surge because of sadness, depression- because of loss.

Two days. Two days ago Bobby broke up with her. He said she changed. Though he could touch her, she seemed empty. Rogue agreed silently when he had told her he no longer wanted to be together, maybe just friends. She knew he was secretly seeing Kitty sparingly throughout the week. Maybe weeks. Rogue knew they had entered closets and kissed with lust, but Kitty, unlike her- was alive. The cure had done nothing but make Rogue feel as if something was missing. Her powers, though much like a curse, had given her a light that had guided her. She was lost, no longer a mutant.

The clock next to her bed clicked. Tick. Tock. It made her head ache. It reminded her of Xavier. It reminded her of the grandfather clock in his office on the back wall. How it would tick tock when she dazed off. How he would break into her head and tell her to pay attention. How when she was sleeping she would hear him whisper to her that she was gifted. Rogue opened her eyes. She looked down at her arms that were settled on both sides of her. She was gift-less, not gifted.

"Do you see something interesting?"

Rogue jumped up and quickly readjusted to the side of her bed. Her eyes darted towards her open door and she saw Angel, the newest student. He leaned against her doorframe, jeans wrapped around his legs and a white shirt with holes in the back for his wings. The wings which intruded her room. Rogue glared at him. "What're ya doin' in my room?"

Angel looked at Rogue, confused. "The door was open, doesn't that mean I'm welcome?" Rogue thought she had closed the door behind her, but she couldn't remember. All she could remember was the Professor, her powers, and Angel's blue eyes staring into her. Rogue rolled her eyes at the winged teenager.

"That don't mean nothing."

She laid back down on her bed and stared at the ceiling again. Her bed sank, caving in slightly to her left. She turned her head and saw Angel sitting next to her. Rogue raised an eyebrow.

"Leave."

Angel smiled slightly. "Leave? I'm just getting here."

He leaned back against her headboard and his feathers brushed against her face. He felt her move away slightly. "I heard you took the cure."

Rogue turned away from him and turned on her side. She faced the wall and decided it was much better to look at than the ceiling. "Yeah, so?" She really didn't want to talk to him. She wanted to talk to no one, not even Logan.

"I almost did." Angel shifted so he could see her without his wings feeling uncomfortable. He lifted his right arm off of his lap and poked Rogue's left arm. Nothing happened.

"Am I supposed to be impressed or somethin'?" Rogue moved her left arm away from him and pushed her hair out of her face and behind her ear. She didn't turn to look at him.

"You should always be proud of who, or what you are."

Rogue rolled her eyes. It was something the professor would say, but could they understand? She couldn't touch before. She couldn't hold anyone, be poked, be hugged, kissed, tickled. She had no sensations externally, only internally. She shifted and laid on her back. The ceiling was much more appealing. Her left arm rubbed against Angel's feathers again.

"I'd take it back if I could ya know. Juss sayin'." Rogue closed her eyes. It hurt to admit it. Just as much as it hurt to admit to missing Xavier, Cyclops, and even Jean. She hated admitting things. Just like how she disliked admitting to herself that she liked the tickle of Angel's feathers and his smell. It was peppermint, maybe.

Angel smirked sadly and moved his body down so he could lay alongside Rogue. "I'm sorry."

She felt him get out of bed. The mattress lifted when his weight left it. She looked towards her door, it was shut- almost closed but not quite- and Angel was gone. She glanced to the light imprint of his body embedded in her mattress. She could smell the light hint of peppermint and she felt relieved she wasn't imagining him. She turned onto her side again. Closed her eyes. Imagined Xavier telling her she was gifted. The whispering children sang his name throughout the hallways, they created a lullaby and before Rogue could eat dinner, she fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Review with thoughts? :]<p> 


	2. In the Kitchen

**Title: Tick Tock**

Disclaimer: I own nothing. All characters used in this story belong to Marvel and the characters portrayed are those from the X-Men movies.

* * *

><p>Chapter Two.<p>

She could hear the footsteps as they clapped against the hardwood floor outside her bedroom door. She could hear the little feet as they rushed down the hallway and she could slightly hear the echo of the footsteps after they faded. Rogue looked over at her alarm clock. It was nine in the morning and she couldn't remember falling asleep. Her head ached and her stomach growled. She remembered she skipped dinner and had instead come to her room to rest. Her mind always seemed to be tired- it thought too much about things she couldn't forget, or things she could never conjure. Her thoughts dwelled on people gone and powers lost. Things she could never have within her grasp.

9:02. Her clock ticked and she stood up and stretched. She wiggled her fingers as she noticed (like she did every morning) that they felt naked and bare. The air itself made them shake with an invisible chill. Her bathroom light flicked on and the water started to tap against the tub. 9:03. Rogue stripped of her clothing and stared into the mirror. She was paler than usual, her skin almost glowing. The silver-white streaks that framed her face seemed to be gray instead of their normal, rather unique color. 9:05. Rogue shrugged off her appearance as normal and stepped into the shower. The water was cold and it caused goosebumps to pop up from her skin. 9:10. Her wet hair was brushed and she dried it with her towel. Black jeans were pulled up her long legs and she placed a tight purple shirt over her head. Rogue walked over to her bed and grabbed her combat-style boots and slipped them on, purposely leaving them messily untied.

9:15. Rogue felt her stomach grumble for the second time as she walked from her room to the kitchen. The students were running around and Rogue knew Storm had finally set up the school again. The kitchen was empty. Everyone had eaten earlier in the morning and Rogue opened the fridge and grabbed a yogurt. She shuffled through a drawer and plopped the spoon she found into the open container. She leaned against the counter.

9:18. The spoon was torn from her grasp. She looked up, her eyes squinted in a glare. Angel smirked down at Rogue and placed the spoon back into the yogurt. She continued to glare at him and he shifted to lean against the counter with her. Rogue moved away slightly and turned back to her yogurt.

"I didn't mean to bother you last night, Rogue. I'm sorry if I did." His voice was soft. Rogue ate her yogurt and placed it down beside her. Angel didn't leave or move from her side. She fixed her eyes on the wall across from her. She didn't know him well, she knew his name was Warren, or Angel. She knew his dad worked to invent the cure. She knew she liked the color of his eyes and his wings. Rogue had assumed their encounter last night was a dream. A weird dream in which his feathers tickled her face and she liked it. She raised her arm and her fingers brushed her face.

"It ain't nothin' to really worry about." She quickly slapped her hand to the side of her body. She didn't want him to notice she was touching her own cheek softly because of him.

Angel bit the inside of his lip and moved to the exit, he turned to say something to her but his mind went blank. He stared at her skin, he noticed she was glowing slightly (maybe it was the lighting), but he liked it. Her hair was wet and messy and he wanted to run his hands through it. He shook his head (mainly to himself) and pushed the thoughts to the back of his head. "We have class with Logan at eleven. Make sure you're there, Rogue."

His voice was soft and by the time Rogue looked up to tell him she didn't want to go, he was gone.


	3. The Professor's Office

_Thank you, Echo Dancer, for the beautiful review. It has really encouraged me to continue with this story. :]_

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sadly.

**This is a short chapter, but I just needed to write something. The next chapter will be much, much longer and much, much better.**

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Three.<span>

She held the book in her lap, the hard cover sitting gently on her legs. Her fingers peeled up the next page and her thumb rubbed against the paper. She could feel the small bumps of the texture, she could visualize tiny tendrils laced and woven together to make paper, bonded to make a book. Books reminded her of Xavier. The thought of the Professor forced her to close the book. Rogue exhaled and looked at the grandfather clock behind the deceased professor's desk. It was 5 p.m. and Rogue was silently amazed at how quickly time had passed while she read. It was his diary, she had found it while brushing her hand against the books on his large bookshelf. It was the only one without a golden title printed on the spine. The blankness, the mystery of the burgundy caused her to separate it from Shakespeare and dust. She'd spent six hours reading it. Memorizing his handwriting- the curve of his letters, the boldness of his punctuation. She could almost hear his voice reading it to her as she sat snuggled in one of the leather chairs aligning the walls.

Rogue heard footsteps in the distance. They were light and she could hear the small taps as the person walked towards the office she was in. Beyond the steps she caught sound of a motorcycle roar and knew Logan was leaving for another mysterious reason. She felt compelled to ask him about his disappearances when she saw him in the hall two days ago, but there was an uncomfortable silence between them. As if he saw something that frightened him.

The footsteps grew louder, then stopped. The office door creaked and Rogue shot her head towards it. Her eyes landed on a hand. She traced the arm with her eyes, then found his face. His lips were sealed shut and she felt like he was biting the inside of his lower lip. His eyes were bluer than usual. He scratched the back of his head with his left hand. He had to move, wiggle, scratch- because her eyes were burning into him. He felt her examining him and it made his skin itch.

Angel walked over to Rogue and leaned down- his face close to hers. His eyes fell onto the book in her lap and he picked it up, looked into her eyes, and stood up straight. He flicked through the pages. "It isn't nice to read personal journals." He smirked slightly, almost to where she could barely notice it. He flicked through the pages a second time and threw it on the professor's desk.

Rogue brushed her hair out of her face, gently placing it behind her ear. "It ain't nice to take things from people either." She squinted her eyes at him and stood up. "Can ya give me the book?"she asked, holding out her hand towards him.

Angel put his hand on the diary he had thrown on the desk. He traced the edges with a finger and opened the cover. It said Charles in fancy handwriting. He touched where the name was drawn. Rogue huffed angrily. "Just hand it over flyboy." She outreached her hand further.

Angel chuckled and flipped the cover closed. He slid the book off the desk and grasped it firmly in his hand. He looked at her, his eyes glowing. He glanced at her hand and felt the urge to touch it, to see if the cure still worked. He took a step forward and her fingertips were half an inch from his white shirt. Angel held onto the book tightly in his left hand and and raised his right to her face. Rogue followed his movements with her eyes. She looked towards his hand, her focus blurry and head aching.

Angel felt his skin itch again. His fingers lightly touched her hair and he brushed it from behind her ear until it was along the side of her face again. Rogue opened her mouth to tell him to stop touching her hair before she killed him, but her voice wasn't there. Her body felt weird. She felt like she was shaking uncontrollably but she knew her body wasn't moving. She felt like she was breathing heavy, but she'd barely taken a breath. Her eyes were glued to his hand and the angel, _no she meant angle_, was forcing her sight to become blotchy. She blinked.

It was 5:07. Angel was shutting the door behind him as he left her in the office alone. She wanted the book, she wanted to run after him and grab it back, but she couldn't move. Her skin tingled and she couldn't tell if it was because of him, or because of something else. She let her arm, which was still up, fall to her side. She studied the room briefly before leaving. As she shut the door she heard Xavier's voice echo in her head.

_How did you expect to cure something, which was never a sickness?_


	4. Angel

**Note:** I apologize for the late update. I've been camping a lot lately and haven't had access to the internet. I've written this chapter via notes on my iphone, so I aplogize if it's a bit...messy, or anything compared to the last three chapters. If there any mistakes, please tell me and I'll fix them. Hopefully I can be forgiven for the wait! This chapter is mainly Angel and his thoughts! **Enjoy & please review with any thoughts. :]**

_Disclaimer: Sadly, I own nada. The same as always._

* * *

><p><span>Chapter Four.<span>

Angel sat at the kitchen counter with the diary in his hand. He could feel the warmth of Rogue's body through the book. His palm could feel the heat that radiated from her legs and embedded itself in the pages of the journal. It held onto her warmth for minutes- and he continued to keep in his grasp. He never imagined that the cold girl could be so warm... His fingers tightened around the book and he felt compelled to peel back the cover- To sneak a peek at the words written inside...he wondered if the professor mentioned Rogue and her powers, if he hypothesized while she was blessed and cursed simultaneously. But then Angel remembered- the frightening, powerful, deadly mutant girl he had heard of was no longer alive. Marie was careful and quiet and human. He noticed a beauty a bouther, a curious mist that surrounded her. It made her mysterious- as if he had to shine light into her muggy protection to understand her.

He'd met her after she had taken the cure. The day of her return she entered quietly into the mansion. She tiptoed down the hall and knocked on Logan's door. He remembered watching from down the hallway. He stood in the shadows, his wings perched over his body, keeping himself hidden. Logan opened the door and she touched his face. It was gentle and she looked relieved, her eyes lightened their cold, stone-like stare and he saw them glow, a faint sparkle in the dark hallway. She disappeared into Logan's room and he searched for her the next day. The mansion buzzed with rumors and stories of how Rogue was no longer Rogue. She was Marie, she was human.

He introduced himself, claiming Storm had told him to greet everyone during his first few days. He made up the small lie and told her, "I'm Warren, kind of new around here and all. You can call me Angel though. Everyone does.". He stumbled over his words slightly and stared down at her. She responded,_ Rogue_, and disappeared behind Kitty's door. She never seemed interested to talk to anyone, especially him. He'd take alternate routes, get lost within the mazes of the mansion just to run into her. All he could ever do though was conjure a small smile and tease her. His teasing was usually a fail since she never caught on and would ignore him and walk away, or he'd disappear before she could yell- or hate him.

He touched her cheek ten minutes ago. His fingers brushed her silver and brown hair into her face slightly, allowing it to caress her cheek and his fingertips brushed against her skin. It made his body turn hot, an urge to touch her skin again and again and again boiled in his stomach but he turned away and ran. He lost his boldness when he was around her, he felt cowardly and weak.

Weak in the knees. His joints weakened when he talked to her, saw her. His chest would jet into overdrive and beat furiously in rythym his heart. It always urged him to run to the window and jump- release his wings and _fly_...

...

He flipped through the pages of the diary. The handwriting was beautiful, but too curvy for him to understand easily. The curves of the letters reminded him of her body. How the black pants she always wore fit perfectly... and how the small amount of cleavage exposed... He flipped the book closed and stood up quickly. He knew the reason he was first interested in her was the cure. She had taken it while he ran away. She braved through the needle and the cure. But he was more curious of her powers, if they'd come back- what would happen if he was touching her, kissing her when they returned- he shut his eyes and squeezed, trying to get thoughts of Rogue out of his head.

"Constipated, bub?"Angel jumped at the sound of the growl-like voice. His eyes popped open and he saw Logan at the fridge, the door propped open. The clawed mutant stared at him with an eyebrow raised. Angel didn't respond and sat back into his chair at the counter. Logan shrugged and looked into the fridge. The younger mutant could hear Logan complain about the lack of beer, or how there was never any. Logan shut the fridge and walked over to sit on the stool next to Angel.

"Not constipation, eh?". He popped open a soda and took a gulp. Angel sighed and Logan smirked knowingly.

"A girl, hm?".

Angel didn't say anything, he figured he didn't have to. The wolverine chuckled, shook his head, patted Angel on the back and walked out of the kitchen. From the hallway he joked to the winged mutant, "Good luck."

Angel signed again. He wasn't sure of his feelings, he was lost and felt the urge to roam the mansion again. As he left the kitchen, Logan's words,_ A girl_, echoed in his head.

* * *

><p>Not as long as I hoped, but this chapter was split in two because it made more sense to me if it didn't jump back and forth between Angel and Rogue's thoughts. The second half, now chapter five, should be up by Monday THE LATEST. Thank you for reading.<p> 


End file.
